22.9.16

Shetima Umar
Abba Gana, acting chairman of Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal
Commission (RMAFC) on Wednesday, September 21, 2016 faulted Dangote’s
proposal for the federal government to sell its assets namely,
the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, and other “crown jewel” oil
investments to cushion the effects of the drop of oil revenue.

Gana insists that Nigeria’s gas reserves
which totals 188 trillion cubic feet, is the best in the world because
of its low hydrogen sulphide impurity levels.

Instead of selling Nigeria’s assets,
which generate funds to the federation account, wealthy Nigerians should
be encouraged to set up their own LNG projects.

In a statement, Gana argued that it
would be unwise for the federal government to dispose of its revenue
generating crown jewels that keep the Federation Account robust over the
long term.

Dangote had earlier advised the federal
government in an interview with CNBC Africa to sell off the federal
assets as a way of augmenting the current revenue shortfall to wade over
the current economic recession.

Citing the NEITI 2013 audit and
financial report of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, Gana disclosed that
the sum of $12.9 billion was received by Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) company
over an eight-year period which the corporation did not remit to the
Federation Account.

The audit, according to RMAFC also
revealed that Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) company paid the sum
of $1.289 billion as dividends for 2013.

“It is the considered view of the
Commission that Nigeria’s assets like NLNG and other strategic national
resources should not be sold to meet short-term financial obligation” he
said.

RMAFC Chairman recalled that the
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Amefiele,
indicated in a media report that the sum of $10 billion would be
realised from the sale of these assets.

The Commission, he explained, is of the
strong opinion that the same amount could be borrowed from the IMF and
the revenue from these assets could be used to amortise the loans over
an agreed period.

“It should be noted that after the
amortisation of the loans, those assets would still be owned by the
Federation in addition to their regular dividends and revenue” he said.

The Commission advised that instead of
selling off such vital assets which generate funds for the federation,
wealthy Nigerians should be encouraged to set up their own LNG projects,
since Nigeria ranked seventh in the world and first in Africa with
natural gas reserves base totalling 188 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) as at
May 1, 2015. In addition, he said, Nigeria’s natural gas is regarded as
one of the best in the world as it has low hydrogen sulphide (H2S) or
carbon dioxide (CO2) impurity levels.